Jac's roundup of pop culture news and Internet findings

Sunday’s Super
Bowl was arguably one of the most entertaining sporting events for even the
most athletically clueless. Admittedly, I fall into that category ­— this was
probably the most recent football game I’ve watched since last year’s SB — and generally
watch for the commercials and half-time show/to justify eating my weight in
cheese and crackers/to feel like a real American. But from on-field brawls and
the post-Beyonce power outage to the tense final minutes of the game, this shit
show was truly a spectacle! Bravo, NFL. Bravo, America.
Queen Bey’s
half-time extravaganza was flawless, lip-synching or not. She booty-popped her
way through a handful of hits and even summoned recently-reunited Destiny’s
Children Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams (no, not her)
to perform a couple classics in coordinating outfits (obvs). Kelly was looking extra fabulous and, as a friend pointed out, that's really saying something about a chick dancing alongside Beyonce.
Michelle, as always, played the cute third wheel role. It appeared that her mic
was off for half of her time onstage, which was probably the stipulation for
Beyonce even allowing Michelle to be included in the reunion. DC superfan note:
Michelle always gets the shaft.
Hours after the
epic, show-stopping (literally — you know Bey caused that outage) show, Beyonce’s
summer tour was announced: The Mrs. Carter Show. Be still, my heart.
For those who care
even less about football than me but still want to check out the over-hyped
commercials, see a roundup here.
30 Rock came to a bittersweet end Thursday. Tina
Fey’s hit changed the comedy landscape and the way we look at snack foods (I’ll
never eat a cupcake the same way again!). Take one last jaunt through TGS memory
lane with every trucker hat
Frank wore throughout the series.
While Girls’ Lena Dunham is still new to the
TV scene, the love-her-or-hate-her writer/director/producer/actress will embark
on a new HBO series with Girls co-executive producer Jenni Konner.
Conan O’Brien a
certified comedy demigod — one of the most beloved late night hosts of the 21st
century. Despite the buzzed-about drama with Jay Leno and Conan’s move to TBS,
the show retained its core audience and it’s clear people still love them some
Coco. And, after watching last week’s Occupy Conan episode, it’s clear Coco
loves us, too. Back in November, the late night host announced he’d present a
fan-generated episode. Viewers were invited to re-imagine their own episode based on the Aug. 16, 2011 show with Anne Hathaway and Fun. Tons of original
content was submitted and mashed together to create an epically weird and
hilarious version of that episode. “Occupy Conan” featured animations,
live-action interpretations, puppets and even submissions from the likes of
Tina Fey, Fred Armisen and Joel McHale. I hadn’t actually seen the original
episode, which is unfortunate as Anne Hathaway gave the most WTF-worthy rap
performance only a white girl could pull off (or not — you decide). I wouldn’t
be surprised if this becomes a new TV trend for shows with particularly
ambitious/obsessed fans. Check out the full fan-sourced episode here.
In hatchet-wielding
homeless hitchhiker news: A delusional man in Fresno, Calif., claiming he was Jesus,
purposely hit a PG&E worker with his car. Thankfully, help was on the scene:
Sa-Mash.

Jac's roundup of pop culture news and Internet findings

The Screen Actors
Guild Awards were Sunday and I didn’t watch that low-budge mess, but here are
the winners
if you care. America’s girl crush, Jennifer Lawrence, nabbed an SAGy (?) for
her role in Silver Linings Playbook (I
know I’m late on this, but that movie is just great. Go see it.) After a
non-wardrobe malfunction,
JLaw accepted by citing the first job that got her the ubiquitous SAG card: an
MTV My Super Sweet 16 promo.
Via Dlisted:Get More:
Jennifer Lawrence, Movie Trailers, Movies Blog
Local drag queen
Penny Tration (government name: Tony Cody) was selected to be on the fifth
season of RuPaul’s Drag Race via a
Facebook fan vote. The season premiered Monday on Logo and, sadly, our girl was
the first to sashay away. Now, call me biased (because I am), but Penny
deserved at least another week. Having spent time in The SweatShoppe, Penny’s
HQ and studio, I know she’s one of the hardest working queens in the biz. She
makes her own clothing and wigs, does some outstanding makeup work and
looked more like a real curvalicious lady than Serena ChaCha, the other queen up for
elimination this week. When the two were instructed to lip sync for their lives, it was
clear Ms. ChaCha was the winner (damn her splits!). Unfortunately, Penny did
not know the lyrics to “Party in the USA,” so I think we can all just blame
Miley for this tragedy. Penny, we still love ya! Keep doing yo thang.
Adrian Grenier (Vincent
Chase to most but forever the Drive Me
Crazy dude to me) tweeted
big news for Entourage fans this
week: the movie spinoff has been greenlit! Mind you,
Entourage may follow in its sister Sex
and the City’s
footsteps by glossing over anything cool about the series and pooping out a
2-hour douchey bromance, but fans will certainly still flock to theaters to check it
out.
Adapting TV shows
for the big screen
is nothing new — just look at Star Trek.
In Entourage’s case, a successful show on HBO for eight seasons, a movie will
provide one last chance for fans to see Vince and his buddies...and one last
chance to squeeze any last profitability from the series. But what about
adapting shows that weren’t necessarily successful on TV in the long term? Party
Down was an excellent Starz comedy from 2009-2010. Adam Scott, Lizzy
Caplan, Ken Marino and a bunch of other hilarious familiar faces from TV comedy
portrayed a crew of kooky caterers, each episode following them to a different catered event. It got a lot of late-in-show life love from Netflix viewers (because who
watches Starz?!) but was cancelled after two seasons. Ever since, there have
been hopes and rumors of a film version from fans and cast members
alike. While the crossover is still unconfirmed, here’s an awesome faux
trailer, made from clips from the series, with a horror twist:
And because
everyone loves Mrs. Doubtfire, check
out a creepily realistic look at what the family film would look like if it had
taken a dark turn.
If you’re like
most theater kids or women between the ages of 10 and 110, then you can quote Mean Girls and Les Mis like a champ and you will love this.
Tonight is a night
that myself and Lizbeans everywhere have been dreading for some time — the
series finale of 30 Rock. You can
read my full eulogy here, but I have to say while I’m happy the show is going
out while it’s still good (Tina Fey and Alec Bladwin both snagged
aforementioned SAG awards for their performances in the show), I’m really going
to miss my weekly dose of Ms. Bossypants.
From the beginning, 30 Rock has been
a writer’s comedy and I will cherish every quote that has been ingrained in my
brain over the past seven seasons (ex. "Live every week like it's Shark Week." - Tracy Jordan). On this momentous evening, I leave you with these
life lessons from Liz Lemon.
My feelings are
best described by this Claire Danes supercut:

After seven seasons of night cheese, epic eye-rolls and general hilarity, Liz Lemon and the TGS crew head to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for one last show. 30 Rock comes to an end this week with a one-hour finale (8 p.m. Thursday, NBC).

People sure are concerned with Girls for a time when television is full of objectionable content — terrorists, gigolos, Bill O’Reilly, etc. For better or worse, Lena Dunham’s comedy has garnered a ton of attention since its premiere in April 2012.

Jac's roundup of pop culture news and Internet findings

It’s holiday time,
y’all! Whether you celebrate Chrimbus, Festivus (Google it for a fun Easter egg), Ludachristmas, Eggmas or any other equally spiritual special occasion,
now is that magical time of year where it’s acceptable to get drunk in front of
your boss and/or Grandma, go on a shopping spree at 4 a.m. and eat your weight
in HoneyBaked Ham. OK, some of us do these things year-round, but now we can’t
be judged for it!
For some reason,
it’s perfectly normal this time of year to go door-to-door singing unsolicited
tunes to strangers. It’s also a good excuse to talk to your best friend’s wife,
with whom you’re secretly in love.
Music is a major factor in this wonderfully insane season, so I’ve collected a sampling
of this year’s best holiday tunes for all the good little CityBeat readers.
Gather ‘round!
Rapper DMX spit
some classic rhymes for New York radio channel 105.1 FM:
The Roots produce
pure magic week to week on Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon and all their musical projects. Earlier this year, Fallon
and the crew teamed up with musical guest Carly Rae Jepsen backstage to perform
her The Song That Shall Not Be Named
using children’s/beginner instruments.
Their follow-up? Mariah Carey’s infectious holiday anthem, “All I Want For
Christmas Is You.”
And who could
forget the holiday collaboration we’ve all been waiting for — the reunion of
Sandy and Danny — This Christmas from
Olivia Newton-John Travolta (easiest celeb couple name ever). Apparently
everything that’s ever existed is getting rebooted
and, at this point, I think even my one-eyed cat has recorded a Christmas
album, so it’s no real shocker that the Grease
duo would team up again for a holiday record. But between Travolta’s Chia Pet
hair, ON-J’s scary Juvederm face and the following low-budge music video, This Christmas is making my eyeballs beg
for the impending apocalypse.
Speaking of hot
messes, while it’s always fun to get drunk on your employer’s dime, it is
important to keep yourself in check at your work’s holiday party. No canoodling
with co-workers, challenging your boss to a drink-off or dancing Gangnam style. Thought Catalog has some hepful dos and don’ts here.
Everything is
Terrible (via Videogum) got its hands on
a clip from a 1988 Christmas television special starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, his Twins buddy Danny Devito, Mike Tyson,
Country singer Randy Travis, old lady and champion bowler Marie Gretter and a
bunch of probably terrified children.
While Arnold’s
Austrian Antichristmas tradition may sound scary, it’s not nearly as freaky as
having Mike Tyson scream a Christmas carol into the face of an innocent child.
Also, I’m pretty sure that when Ah-nahld manhandled the little girl who joked
that he needed singing lessons, he may have brokes that little girls’ ribs.
This looks more like a Tim and Eric sketch
than a primetime family program, but I guarantee if you show this to your kids,
they will never misbehave again.It's not Christmas in America until the Kardashian-Jenner family bestows its annual holiday card upon our unworthy eyes. Peep that Photoshopped piece here and find equally funny, scary and confusing family photos in this list of "34 of the most jovially insane family holiday cards ever sent."

Movember may be over, but the gentlemen of Whisker Wars
(10 p.m. Fridays, IFC) won’t be shaving their bodacious beards and
sensational ’staches any time soon. The beardos are back and, for a
second season, this oddly entertaining docu-series gives viewers a
glimpse at the world of competitive facial hair.

Fresh off the premiere of Lifetime’s unintentionally hilarious monstrosity, Liz and Dick, comes
a new chapter of a love story that defines a generation. This week, Liz
Lemon and Criss Chross will be joined in holy hotdog matrimony on 30 Rock (8 p.m. Thursday, NBC).